burns



(No Model.) 2 Sheets sheet 1.

' T. BURNS. APPARATUS FOR SCOURING AND WASHING SKINS, &0. No. 478,499.Patented July 5, 1892.

m g o w us (:04, Pno'roamw WASNINQTGN a c '(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. BURNS.

APPARATUS FOR SGOURING AND WASHING SKINS, 8:0.

No. 478,499. Patented July 5, 1892.

I1 1/: for:

V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BURNS, OF EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.

APPARATUS FOR SCOURING AND WASHING SKINS, 81,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,499, dated July 5,1892.

Application filed September 13, 1889. Serial No. 323,886. (No model.)Patented in England February 9, 1889, No. 2,311, and July 10, 1889, No.11,133 in Victoria August 20,1889, No. 7,013; in South Australia August20, 1889,1l0. 1,897: in New South Wales August 21,1889,N0. 1,639 inQueensland August 22, 1889, No. 826; in New Zealand August 29, 1889, No.

3,918, and in Canada October 27, 1891, No. 37,692.

To all whom it Wmy concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BURNS, skinner, tanner, and wool merchant, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, of Messrs. White,Burns dz Oo., Bonnington Skin \Vorks, and 1 Pilrig Street, Edinburgh, inthe county of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, have invented Machinery orApparatus for Scouring and WVashing Skins and Wool and AnalogousMaterials, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in the UnitedKingdom of Great Britain, dated February 9, 1889, No. 2,311, and datedJuly 10, 1889, No. 11,133, re spectively; in New Zealand, dated August29, 1889, No. 3,918; in New South \Vales, dated August 21, 1889, No.1,639; in Queensland, dated August 22, 1889, N0. 826; in Victoria, datedAugust 20, 1889, No. 7,013; in Australia, dated August 20, 1889, No.1,397, and in Canada, dated October 27, 1891, No. 37,692,) and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to machinery or apparatus for scouring andwashing skins and wool and analogous materials, and has for its objectsto facilitate the said scouring and washing operations, these operationsbeing done in a much more efficient manner, with practically no loss ofwool, in less time, and at less expense than is obtainable at present bythe hand process. 7

In carrying out my said invention employ a large oblong trough, throughwhich 1 cause a continual flow of water to pass, and havingasuitablenumber of pairs of squeezers mounted at intervals along its length, thesaid squeezers being preferably a pair of rollers capable of adjustment,so as to regulate the pressure on the material being washed or scoured.This trough also carries the necessary entering, adjusting, and guidingrollers, as also the leading band or rollers and guiding-ropes for theleading through of the material; and, further, I employ another oblongtrough, through which a continual flow of water passes, for steeping theskins in, this trough having mounted at its one end a number of rollers(some of which are formed u with spurs or grooves along their length)for feedingthe material out of the steeping-trough onto the leading bandor rollers of the firstmentioned trough. squeezers which require to bedriven are driven by means of spurgearing, endless band, chain, andchain-wheels or their equivalents from one or more main driving-shafts,these driving-shafts being driven by steam, hand, or horse power.

In cases where skins which have been treated with lime or othersubstances on their flesh sides are to be washed or scoured Imay mount aspurred or grooved roller across the steeping-trough immediately infront of the entering set of rollers, and which I drive in the oppositedirection to that-of the other rollers, so that the spurs or top edgesof grooves scrape the flesh side of the skin as it passes over it. Thesaid troughs and their connections may be built upon suitablefoundations and used as fixtures, or they may be mounted on wheels inany suitable manner and therefore made portable and capable of beingmoved from place to place. The said troughs may also be used jointlywith one another or separately, as desired.

In order that my said invention may be more readily carried into effectand more easily understood, I will now proceed to describe it withreference to the annexed drawlugs.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, are elevation and plan ofthat part of my said invention which I term the washing and scouringmachinery as used for skins. Figs. 3 and 4:, Sheet 2, are elevation andplan of that part of my said invention which I term my steeping-troughand entering set of rollers, as used for skins and shown in conjunctionwith the entering end of my washing and scouring machinery.

A, Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, is a large oblong The said rollers and troughor box, made of wood, iron, or other 5 material, for holding water,which is caused to flow continuously in and out by any suitable means.The said trough may be mounted in any suitable manner to foundations toas a fixture, or 1t may be mounted on wheels, so

as to be portable and therefore capable'of being moved from one place toanother. This trough carries a number of pairs of squeezers B, B, and Bentering-roller O, dischargeroller D, guide-rollers E, E, E E and Eendless band F, guide-ropes G, driving-shaft H, and gearing K, the saidrollers, drivingshaft, and gearing being all carried in suitablebearings either formed on the said trough or attached thereto by anysuitable means. For allowing of the said trough being cleaned out, whendesired, I may provide one or more openings J in or near its bottom, thesaid openings being capable of closing by any suit able means.

As shown in the drawings, I preferably employ six pairs of squeezers B,B, and B some in, and some above the water and mounted across the troughat intervals along its length, the said squeezers being preferably apair of wooden or iron rollers packed or covered with yarn, rope,orindia-rubber Z), so as to-form a yielding surface, and so mounted thatthe desired degree of pressure may be applied on the material passingthrough them, the said pressure being obtained by mounting the oneroller b in fixed or stationary bearings 12 while the other roller b iscarried in sliding or movable bearings b, which are also provided withspiral or'ot-her springs 7) and the necessary screw arrangement foradjusting the pressure on the springs, the said squeezers being drivenin any suitable manner from the main driving-shaft by means ofspur-wheel gearing, endless band, chain andchain-wheels, or theirmechanical equivalents, but preferably by keyinga spur-wheel 70, Fig. 2,onto the driving-shaft H, which carries the bottom roller of the firstset of squeezers B. The said spur-wheel transmits its power into anintermediate wheel 70', thence into an intermediate 70 on top roller ofsqueezers B, thence into an intermediate 70*, thence into a driver 70,keyed on the bottom roller of the squeezers B thence into a centralintermediate 10 from which it repeats the same routine, only backward,till it expends itself at end squeezers B, the top rollers on the pairsof squeezers B and B being driven from the under ones by means ofspur-wheels L, the said -driving-shaft H being driven by steam, hand, orhorse power.

For the purpose of carrying or leading the material to be washed throughthe said squeezers .I employ an endless band F, of wire-cloth, cloth, orbelting, which is caused to pass over the under rollers of the squeezersB, B, and B and partly round the enteringroller 0, the discharge-rollerD, and guiderollers E and E, the said endless band being tightened orslackenedby means of mounting the entering-roller U or thedischargeroller D, or both, as shown, in sliding or movablebearings c d,which are carried in suitably. grooved or recessed brackets c d, whichare either formed on the said trough or at tached thereto by suitablemeans and provided with the necessary screw arrangements (Z the saidband being also adjustable transversely by means of mounting the one endof the guide-roller E in a movable bearing 6, carried in a suitablebracket 6 and provided with the necessary screw adjusting arrangement 6the opposite end of said guideroller working in an oval journal to allowof its movement.

In order to guide the material in passing through the squeezcrs and soprevent it from getting out of place or winding round any of the 'toprollers, I employ three, five, or any number of endless ropes G, which Icause to pass under the top rollers of the squeezers and over thegrooved guide-rollers E and E the said ropes working in grooves formedin the said top rollers of the squeezers, the said grooves being suchthat the rope fills up the space of groove, so that an equal surface isalways pressing on the material, the said ropes being capable ofadjustment-that is, tightened or s1ackenedby means of the guide-roller Ebeing carried in movable bearings 0 which work in suitable grooved or recessed brackets 6 formed on or fixed to the said trough, and providedwith the necessary screw adjusting arrangement 6 the rollershereinbefore mentioned may be made of wood or iron, or both, or anyother suitable material. The flow of water into the said trough ispreferably such that the clean Water on entering the machine falls ontop of the small guide-roller E (which is here mounted to prevent theweight of the falling water from bagging the endless band F,) and thuscomes into contact with the material immediately before it passes out ofthe machine, or when the materialis nearly cleaned. The waterthen passesout of the machine by overflowing in its dirtiest state at the enteringend A, where it comes in contact with the material in its dirty state asit enters the machine, though I may use any other arrangement of watersupply and outlet. As a modification of my said endless band forcarrying or leading the material through the squeezers I may employ inlieu thereof a number of sets of small wooden or iron rollers, each setbeing so'mounted as to occupy the space between each pair of thesqueezers, and I also mount another set of these rollers at the enteringend of the machine for the purpose of leading the material to the firstpair of squeezers, these rollers being all driven by spur-gearing,endless band, or chain and chain-wheels from the main drivingshaft, thismodification doing away with the endless band, guide, and adjListing-rollers for same, as hereinbefore described.

N, Figs. 3 and 4, Sheet 2, is the steepingtrough, preferably oblong inshape and made of wood, iron, or other which a continual flow of wateris caused to pass, the said flow preferably entering at the material,through All ITO

end where the rollers are mounted and passor their equivalents, though Imay, if desired,

provide a separate driving-shaft for thembn the said trough. Theserollers M are preferably arranged as shown, m being a spur or groovedroller of, say, about twelve inches in diameter, m and m being twosmaller spur or grooved rollers, and the remainder plain rollers, sothat on the material or skinbeing lifted from the trough and placed ontop of the spur-roller m the spurs tend to pull the material or skin uponto the other rollers, which then lead it on till it falls on theendless leading-band F of the washing or scouring machinery. This bandthen enters them into the said machinery.

\Vhere lime or other substances are used for preserving. or cleaning theflesh. sides of the skins, I mount another spur or grooved roller S insuitable bearings 3, these being so formed as to allow of the rollersremoval when not required. This roller is driven in the oppositedirection to that of the others by means of spur-gearing P or itsequivalent, so that as the skins are being drawn up from the trough bythe rollers M the spurs on the roller S rub orscrape the lime off theflesh side of the skins before they enter the machinery. The said troughN may be mounted on suitable foundations as a fixture or it may bemounted on wheels, so as to be portable and capable of being moved fromplace to place, and for the purpose of cleaning it out or running offthe water I may provide one or more suitable openings T in or near itsbottom, the said openings being provided with suitable doors or covers.

If desired, I may use my first-mentioned trough and mountings asmachinery or apparatus for scouring and washing and dispense with thesteeping-trough and its mountings, though when skins are being washed orscoured I prefer to use both troughs jointly.

I claim- 1. In machinery or apparatus for securing and washing skins,W001, 850., the combination v of the tank A, carrying a series ofsqueezingrolls and grooved guide-rollers E, E, and E an endless band F,passingabout said guiderollers and between the squeezing-rolls,adjustable pulleys G and D for regulating the tension of the endlessband, endless ropes Gr,

passing around groovedguide-rollers E E and between the squeezing-rolls,and gearing for connecting together and simultaneously driving thesqueezing-rolls,substantially as described.

2. In a machine or apparatus for securing and washing skins, W001, 850.,the combination of a tank of ordinary or suitable construction carryinga series of squeezing-rolls, a steeping-trough N, carrying a series ofenteringrollers mounted upon the end of said trough, a spur-gear P, andmeans for connecting together and driving the gearing of the tank andtrough simultaneously, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS BURNS.

WVitnesses:

ROBERT WHITE,

Springbank, Ferry Road, Edinburgh.

JAMES TATE J OHNSON,

115 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow.

